Pages

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I IS FOR INNOVATION

Shhh.... here's a secret well-known in the marketing world that is completely applicable in the writing world:

DIFFERENT is more important than BETTER.

Unusual narrators, graphic novels, novels in verse or text-ese, books that include an online component... This is only part of what I'm talking about.

Maybe your book is just a book, more of a tried and true romance/mystery/thriller/whatever. Well, guess what? You can still be different. You just have to think of it in these terms:

What can your book give the reader than no other book can?

Maybe it's an emotional experience, a trip to an unusual time or place, or the situation is different -- boy raised by antelope (instead of wolves or graveyard ghosts) or girl wants more than anything to BE a mermaid (instead of, say, a vampire).

You get the idea. Innovation. Write a book that's different, or at least sell it as such. Then, if you keep working really hard, the "better" will follow.

Listen with me on SoundCloud!

My Website

Words to Live By

"Err on the side of love." - my Mama

"Life isn't about finding yourself.Life is about creating yourself."- Anonymous

“Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love,and love what you write.The key word is love.You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.”- Ray Bradbury